My message to future black belts

by Matthew Seibold
(Las Vegas, NV)

My first time at sparring!

I started martial arts when I was 4 years old. Through hard work, dedication, and determination, I'm now a black belt at 11 years old. Getting my black belt has been my goal since I started and here is my advice:

Sparring; Sparring is an objective that you need to succeed at in order to get your black belt. Sparring is the part of the test that you must push through it or go home. Sparring is when endurance comes into play.

You need endurance. Endurance is the boost that you need to stay in the game and not get dehydrated. To build endurance, I sprinted to one side of a football field and rested for 1 minute; then I sprinted back to the other side and rest for 1 minute. I did this six times a day and three days a week for three months.

Weapons; practice your weapons for two weeks every day. This will help you remember your weapons for the test. Learn to control your weapon and this will help you perfect your weapons kata. Also practice all your katas for two weeks every day.

I felt that the hardest thing that I did on the black belt test was sparring. Succeeding at sparring was the thing that motivated me to get my black belt. I pushed through it and got my black belt.

When you feel like giving up, don’t. Push through it and you will look back on that decision and you will love your new belt. Good luck third red belts!